MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Mulerider Men's and Women's tennis teams will head to Edmond, Oklahoma this weekend to compete in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region Championship at the University of Central Oklahoma. The team will compete in both singles and doubles play, as they look to qualify for the ITA Cup, the only singles and doubles national event for the Division II and NAIA levels.
Four returning Mulerider men competed at the ITA Championships in 2021. Matthew Tennant and Gabriel Breitenmoser competed as a doubles team as well Ole Valkyser who competed with former Mulerider Marko Nikoliuk. Sander Jans also competed both as an individual and part of a doubles team. In solo play, Breitenmoser won his match in round one but fell to the No. 1 seed on day two. Valkyser also found victory on day one but did not advance past the second round. Jans won three of his four individual matches to make it to the quarterfinals and land himself a qualifying spot at the ITA Cup through his consolation play. His doubles team entered the competition ranked No. 1, but did not make it past round two. Tennant and Breitenmoser had the same fate, falling to the six seed team in round two. In doubles play Valkyser made it through the quarterfinals but fell to the No. 6 seed as well.
Three returning Mulerider women competed at the ITA regional last fall. Lena Milosevic, Sarah Roy, and Greta Wallin all competed as individuals as well as in doubles play. In solo play, Wallin won her first match, but fell to the No. 1 seed in the second round. She also found success in doubles play, making it to round two, but falling 8-5.
In their first tournament of the fall, fifth year head coach Greg Owen saw both his men and women's team capture three individual flight titles at the Tyler Invitational. Valkyser won flight two, while newcomers Melvin Vix won flight six and Annika Berrendorf flight three.
Roy is set to compete with Berrendorf in doubles, Wallin with Milosevic, and Kalley Smith with Martina Cortal. Jans is set to play with Valkyser, Breitenmoser with Tennant, Lluc Camps with Ben Schneider, and Adam Gheorge with Vix. Every Mulerider is also competing as an individual.
Milosevic enters the weekend seeded in the top 16 of draw A. Wallin finds herself seeded No. 10 in draw B. Berrendorf is slated to face the A draw No. 1 seed, Sofia Smagina. Jans finds himself as the No. 4 seed and Valkyser as the No. 7 seed in A draw. As a doubles team, Jans and Valkyser find themselves seeded third. The men's team enters the weekend ranked second in the Central Region.
The tournament is set to start Friday morning, and run through Sunday.
